The Complete FIFA 11+ Guide — Structure and Implementation of the 20-Minute Warm-Up That Reduces Youth Soccer Injuries
FIFA 11+ is a roughly 20-minute structured warm-up developed by FIFA's medical research centre, designed to replace — not supplement — the usual warm-up and to be performed at least twice a week. It consists of three parts — running, strength/plyometrics/balance, and higher-speed running — and teams with good compliance have repeatedly reported meaningful reductions in injury rates. The key is not the number of exercises or the volume, but the quality of the movement — knee-over-toe alignment, soft landings — and the teams that keep doing it correctly see the largest effect.
What FIFA 11+ Is — Why It Was Created and What It Aims to Do
FIFA 11+ was designed to turn the warm-up itself into an injury-prevention intervention. It requires no special equipment and is performed on the pitch in about 20 minutes, replacing the usual warm-up.
FIFA 11+ is a standardized warm-up program for soccer players, developed by FIFA's Medical Assessment and Research Centre (F-MARC) in collaboration with international sports-medicine research groups. Traditional warm-ups vary widely from player to player and team to team, and their content is often not linked to prevention at all. The essence of FIFA 11+ is that it restructures this preparation time into a block of evidence-based neuromuscular training.
The aim is to reduce the lower-limb injuries common in soccer — ankle sprains, hamstring strains, and anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears — by improving trunk and lower-limb strength, balance (proprioception), and the quality of landing and change-of-direction mechanics. The focus is less on making muscles bigger and more on ingraining a way of using the body that keeps the joints stable.
Three key points about how it is positioned: (1) it is self-contained and needs no equipment on the pitch; (2) it takes about 20 minutes and replaces the usual warm-up; (3) it is done at least twice a week, throughout the season. This is a routine embedded in everyday practice, not a one-off event.
The Three Parts and ~15 Exercises — How Three Difficulty Levels Structure the Program
FIFA 11+ is built from three parts totaling roughly 15 exercises. The core second part is a set of six strength, plyometrics, and balance exercises, each with three levels of increasing difficulty; you advance only once the current level can be performed with correct form.
The overall flow begins with slow-speed running in Part 1 to warm the body, moves through Part 2 where movement quality is built, and finishes with Part 3 — higher-speed running and cutting that approaches match intensity. The important design feature is that intensity is raised in stages.
| Part | Contents | Primary Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Part 1 | Slow-speed running with active stretching and controlled contacts (about 8 minutes) | Raise muscle temperature, secure range of motion, prime the neuromuscular system |
| Part 2 | Six sets of core, strength, plyometrics, and balance exercises (three levels of difficulty each) | Improve lower-limb alignment, eccentric strength, and landing/balance control |
| Part 3 | Moderate-to-high-speed running with cutting and change of direction (about 2 minutes) | Transition to match intensity; control deceleration and cutting |
Each Part 2 exercise progresses from level 1 to 2 to 3. Advance to a harder level only once the current one can be done with correct form.
The three difficulty levels exist to scale the load to the player's proficiency. Advancing to a higher level while form is breaking down can raise injury risk rather than reduce it. The principle is "one repetition done correctly" over "more repetitions," and the coach bases the decision to level up on the quality of the movement.
- Plank / side plank — Builds trunk stability, the foundation for limb movement. Higher levels reduce points of support and add motion
- Nordic hamstring — A partner holds the ankles while the player kneels and leans forward slowly. Develops eccentric hamstring strength and is central to strain prevention
- Single-leg balance — Progresses from a single-leg stance to ball work or pushing against a partner. Improves ankle stability and proprioception
- Squats — Emphasize knee-over-toe alignment. Develop lower-limb strength and control
- Jumps (including vertical jumps) — Insist on "land softly" and "keep the knees from collapsing inward" to correct the landing patterns linked to ACL injury
Evidence and Compliance — Not "Whether You Do It" but "How Correctly You Keep Doing It"
The injury-prevention effect of FIFA 11+ is reported across multiple studies, but the size of that effect depends heavily on a team's compliance. The teams that maintain high compliance see the largest reductions.
A landmark study is the cluster randomized controlled trial by Soligard et al. (2008) in young female soccer players, which showed that implementing a comprehensive warm-up program was associated with fewer injuries. Subsequent implementation studies worldwide have likewise reported reductions in injury rates. That said, the magnitude of the reduction varies by age, sex, and how the program is implemented, and cannot be stated as a single universal figure.
What studies consistently highlight is that the size of the effect hinges on how faithfully and how frequently the program is actually performed. Reductions appear clearly in high-compliance groups, while sporadic delivery or dropping to once a week dilutes the effect. In other words, FIFA 11+ is a program whose success is determined not by "whether it was adopted" but by "whether it is being done correctly and consistently."
The value of FIFA 11+ lies in the fact that it can be adopted by any team worldwide without special facilities. Whether that value is realized, however, depends on sustaining a high level of compliance throughout the season.
— Bizzini & Dvorak, 2015 (paraphrased)
Implementing It in a Youth Team — Frequency, Replacement, Coaching, and When to Use 11+ Kids
The principles for adoption are simple: replace the usual warm-up, do it at least twice a week, and keep going while carefully coaching form. For younger age groups, use the dedicated FIFA 11+ Kids rather than the standard version.
On the operational side, the premise is that FIFA 11+ replaces the existing warm-up rather than being tacked on top of it. The roughly 20-minute duration is designed around this replacement. Secure a frequency of at least twice a week, and ideally deliver the key elements before matches too rather than cutting them short.
- Knees toward the toes — In squats, landings, and cuts, use repeated cues and corrections so the knees do not collapse inward
- Land softly — Absorb impact through the hips and knees after a jump. Make a silent landing the watchword
- Manage range of motion on the Nordic — Lean forward slowly within a tolerable range and stop just before form breaks down. Quality over repetitions
- Keep the axis on single-leg work — Hold the pelvis level and check that ankle, knee, and hip stay in line
- Level up on quality, not volume — Advance the difficulty only once it can be completed correctly, and be ready to step back a level if form breaks
Age suitability matters too. The standard FIFA 11+ suits players from roughly age 14, and a separate "FIFA 11+ Kids" is provided for younger children. The Kids version targets ages 7-13 and is structured to develop falling techniques, spatial awareness, and basic movement control while incorporating play. Rather than forcing an ill-fitting program onto an age group, choose the right one for the developmental stage.
FIFA 11+ is nothing extraordinary. Take conditions that are within reach — no equipment, about 20 minutes, at least twice a week — and keep them up throughout the season while protecting movement quality. Committing to these fundamentals is what protects a player's lower limbs and supports a long soccer career.
References
- [1] Soligard, T., Myklebust, G., Steffen, K., Holme, I., Silvers, H., Bizzini, M., Junge, A., Dvorak, J., Bahr, R. & Andersen, T. E. (2008). “Comprehensive warm-up programme to prevent injuries in young female footballers: cluster randomised controlled trial” BMJ. Link
- [2] Bizzini, M. & Dvorak, J. (2015). “FIFA 11+: an effective programme to prevent football injuries in various player groups worldwide—a narrative review” British Journal of Sports Medicine. Link
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Last updated: 2026-07-16 ・ Footnote Editorial